Maurizio Sarri says Chelsea’s defending must improve if they are to be genuine title rivals to Manchester City and Liverpool.
Chelsea have made a great start to Sarri’s reign, winning all of their four Premier League games since the Italian took over as head coach.
They began the weekend level on points with leaders Liverpool, but Sarri believes they are still a level below the Reds and defending champions City.
At a press conference ahead of Chelsea’s game against Cardiff, Sarri was asked for his view on the title race given his team’s promising start to the season.
He said: “At the moment I can answer Manchester City or Liverpool, at the moment. We need another step, I think, to be the same level.”
Asked if he thought that gap was sizeable, Sarri said: “I think so. I hope not. But it’s very difficult. The gap was 30 points at the beginning of the season.
“My feeling is that now we are not a very solid team in the defensive phase, so I feel we need to improve and my feeling is that this team can improve.”